Empire
by Cyclone49
Summary: (AU) A small change made by Drode and Crayak results in the Yeerks winning the invasion against the Yeerks and the Animorphs being infested. But that's only the beginning...
1. Prologue

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Empire:

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By Cyclone49 ****

Chapter 1: Prologue

Drode

My name is Hizorach Likostin the 3rd, Appointed Entertainer of Lord Moriarckos Tanderan. Among people of my race, the Zantard, I was known as the Drode. It means wild card in the Zantardian language, and I guess that is what I am. I was the entertainer for the lord of our planet, Lord Tanderan. It was a prestigious job, and I was highly regarded within his kingdom. I was smart, funny, and, I guess, extremely evil. I had great plans, great, great plans. Plans that would allow me to seize the kingdom, become powerful beyond my imagination.

I never got a chance too though. War had ravaged our planet, and the two major kingdoms, Markosia and Vanderus, had been fighting for many decades over who should have been the major rulers of the planet. Lord Chesterk Paklinkern, the lord of Vanderus, had had enough of the war, and planted a high powered nuclear device near the center of the planet. I think you can guess what happened next.

But, that life was many, many millennia ago. For a length of time that I cannot even begin to guess, I have lived, if you can even call it living, in a realm where time and space has no meaning. In a world where you can see the past and the future all at once, and every single event in the universe is visible to those willing to look.

But, this story is not about me. This story is about one tiny little change, one tiny little vision, that changed the history of the universe. This story is about one little idea of mine, that put my master Crayak far ahead of that fool the Ellimist in the epic, never-ending game that they play.

Much had happened since those fools decided to plunge into the Blade Ship. They had not died, but their fate was worse than death. The One, a being who was now very close to becoming much like Master Crayak or the Ellimist, had absorbed them, absorbed every bit of their knowledge and being, along with many, many other species. In absorbing four of the six Animorphs, he had gained a knowledge that few people had. The knowledge of us. He knew who Crayak was. He knew who Ellimist was. He knew who I was. And he had a new goal in life. To become one of us.

The Yeerk Empire was in ruins. The few remaining Pool Ships were hunted down and destroyed by Andalites. The Mother Pool Ship, in which the Council of Thirteen resided, was captured shortly after and the Council was executed by Andalites. All that were left were about ten Blade Ships and about a hundred Bug Fighters, patrolling aimlessly around the universe. Humans had become a formidable force in the galaxy, and the galaxy was, well, a happy place. The Ellimist, meddling fool that he was, had gained the upper hand. But, I had a plan.

The Yeerks were, I guess, Crayak's pet species. He didn't create them, like the Howlers, but he did change their evolutionary cycle, with a couple of ideas from me. It was my idea to give these pitiful slugs the power to enter the heads of other species, and control them. And we had unleashed a force to be reckoned with. But it had all gone to waste, thanks to the Ellimist's foul Animorphs.

My plan was quite simple. I had actually got the idea from the Ellimist, when he helped those two Hork Bajir escape from the Yeerks. It involved one person, one insignificant being, receiving a vision. A command if you will. I told Master Crayak about it. He liked the idea. He liked it a lot. And then, it was time for the bargaining.

"Three simple words Ellimist," I said, "Three simple words. That's all we ask. And you can meddle in the Pogruk Nebula situation as much as you want."

WHAT THREE WORDS? he asked, AND WHO RECEIVES THIS VISION?

"That's not part of the deal Ellimist," I said, "Take it or leave it. There are some horrible things that could be done in the Pogruk Nebula," I studied his face as he considered the deal. I could see what he was thinking. He was wondering how big an impact three words could have. Wondering what a simple command could possibly do. And I knew he desperately wanted to change what happened in the Pogruk Nebula.

OKAY DRODE… he said, YOU HAVE YOUR DEAL.

"Excellent…" I said, and Crayak made his changes. I watched as the strands of time twisted and turned.


	2. Don't Kill, Infest

_(**Note: **For some reason it doesn't let me use the normal thought speak symbols, so until I work out how to do that all thought speak symbols will look like this: _( )_. Also, thanks to everybody who reviewed the first chapter)_

**Empire:**

By Cyclone49 , )

**Chapter 2: Don't Kill. Infest**

**Magon 2682**

It looked at me. Straight at me. It was a creature. Or a machine. Maybe both. One blood-red eye, sitting on a throne that stretched for miles. That's all he was. I was frightened. More frightened than I had ever been before. But, for some reason, I knew that it wasn't going to hurt me. It sounds crazy, but it almost felt like this terrifying being was here to help me.

"Don't kill," it said, in a low voice that seemed to pierce straight through me, "Infest." And then I woke up.

My name is Magon 2682 of the Sulp Niar pool. My host's name is Terence Thompson. His friends call him T.T. He is what humans call a "chick magnet", and my main job is to use this host to lure young girls into the Sharing.

But, none of that matters anymore. We have declared open war on the humans. Most of the city where we have been basing the invasion is gone, destroyed by dracon beams and an explosion set off by the Animorphs in our Yeerk Pool.

The Animorphs are a group of rogue humans and Andalites who are fighting us Yeerks. We thought they were all Andalites for a long time, but after a while we worked out most of them were humans. Since then they have been hiding out with their families, and none of us have any idea where they might be. Coincidentally, my host vaguely knew one of the Animorphs, a girl named Rachel Berenson. Even more coincidentally, Rachel's cousin Tom is the host of my current leader, Emplish 235.

We also now have the morphing power. I have there morphs, a peregrine falcon, an extremely fast earth bird, an extremely powerful arctic animal called a polar bear, and a tiny insect called a fly. I've had very little practice with these morphs.

I am, I guess, a traitor to the Yeerk Empire. Emplish had gathered about a hundred other Yeerks, including me, and come up with a plan to steal Visser One's blade ship and escape into space. It was exciting. I had long grown disillusioned with the Empire, and how we weren't getting anywhere in this invasion. Those fools were constantly arguing over which was a more effective form of invasion, a slow infiltration, or all out war. They didn't understand that both those methods were flawed, and what they really needed was an extremely fast infiltration, one where any free creature you could find was made into a host, no matter whether they were a Class 2 species or a Class 5 species (obviously we weren't going to start infesting Class 1 species).

A few Yeerks were now starting to catch onto this idea, but unfortunately we were all of low rank, and no one would listen to us. But, when we escape from the Empire, there will only be a small number of us, and each person will at least be a Sub Visser. We will also be bringing a small bunch of yeerks without hosts, used for infesting whoever and whatever we come across on our travels.

Emplish had made a deal with the leader of the Animorphs, Jake Berenson, the brother of his host body, as well as a large group of rebellious Taxxons. We were going to help the Animorphs get into the Pool Ship, and they would help us get into the Blade Ship, and we would get the morphing box and fly away. Of course, Emplish wasn't going to explain to the Animorphs the extent of our plans, he had some cover story about us wanting to become _nothlits_.

Currently, I was sleeping in one of the few remaining buildings left near the Pool Ship. Secrecy had been forgotten, and all the controllers that didn't have anywhere to live were given special living quarters. My host's parents and house had been destroyed when the Yeerk Pool was blown up, so now I had to live here, along with many, many other controllers. It was okay, I preferred being able to sleep in a bed and eating decent food, but at least I no longer had to put on the ridiculous charade of a high school student.

(Interesting dream you had there…) my host sneered, (I'm surprised you didn't wet my pants.) T.T. had grown much more rebellious since his parents were killed, his anger at me had grown ten-fold. He was now devoting all his time to annoying me, provoking me and trying to distract me.

(Stupid human,) I laughed, (Why do you even try? You cannot distract me.) And he couldn't. Not now, not when we were about to escape the empire and start our own glorious one.

I looked at my watch. It was 9:03 PM. I had only been asleep for about two hours.

(Magon. It is time.) someone said in private thought speak. It was Hergat 987, Emplish's lieutenant. I snuck out of the dark room and morphed to falcon. I noticed a couple of other people doing it too, other members of our rebel group. I flew up into the air, riding the thermals that had been generated by the heat of all the destruction. It was a magnificent site, seeing almost all of the city reduced to rubble around the massive sinkhole where the Yeerk Pool used to be. I was very nervous. I knew if we got caught, every single one of us would be executed. The thought of Kandrona starvation scared me a lot. I wondered if it was all going to be to waste. The Andalites might catch us, the Empire might catch us. What if the Empire actually wins, and becomes much stronger from this invasion.

(Where is are the bug fighters?) I asked Hergat in private thought speak. Emplish was going to trick Visser One into letting him take control of the Blade Ship. A couple of bug fighters were going to be waiting for us, to take us to the Blade Ship that was currently in orbit.

(Behind the rubble of the Elementry School.) Hergat replied. He had obviously told this to the other birds I was flying with as well, because all of a sudden about 40 birds scattered across the sky all flew over to the Elementry School. We landed and demorphed, and there were four bug fighters waiting for us. Hergat was waiting there, with a few Hork-Bajir controllers. Hergat controlled the host of a stern looking middle-aged man. It was strange to think he was taking orders from a kid barely out of high school.

"Okay, everyone." Hergat said in a loud booming voice, "Emplish has just informed me that he has just been transported to the Blade Ship, where some of our loyal members are waiting. We can fit 6 people in each bug fighter, and one of those people is going to have to pilot it," He looked at us and did a small headcount, "We will have to make two trips up. Everyone who can fly a bug fighter come over here." About fifteen people, including myself, walked over to Hergat.

"Okay, half of you are going to go up now. The eight of you standing in the front, each get into bug fighters. Two each to bug fighter," he looked at the rest of the controllers, "The rest of you, if you can fit into a bug fighter, get into one. The rest of you wait here, and we'll come and get you." I walked over to the nearest bug fighter and got in. I chose the Hork-Bajir seat, as it would be infinitely easier to control. A woman set in the seat next to me,"

"Great, you give me the Taxxon controls…" she laughed. I recognized her. It was my host's old history teacher, Ms Paloma. "My name is Karmen 630."

"Magon 2682," I replied, "Don't worry, I can easily pilot it up to the Blade Ship using these controls anyway," A few other controllers crammed in next to us, and I started up the bug fighter. My hands were trembling as I powered up the controls.

_Well, it's now or never,_ I said to myself, _No turning back now._

(You won't succeed,) T.T. said, (The empire will catch you. They will kill you. You know they will.)

(They will kill you too." I replied.

(So? Death is a far better alternative to this.)

"Magon? Are you going to take off?" Karmen asked. I nodded, and started up the bug fighter. Karmen set the course to the Blade Ship. It was an extremely easy task. Back when I had a Hork-Bajir host body I had been in a quite a few ariel dogfights, and this was child's play. We escaped orbit and docked into the blade ship with the other three fighters. Karmen then flew the ship back down to pick up the remaining people. Once we were all assembled, Emplish came and breifed us.

"Okay, there has been a slight change of plans," Emplish told us, "I had to feed the Animorphs to a Taxxon, so they won't be taking control of the Pool Ship," We all laughed at that, although a few, me included, were a little nervous about that. I was getting even more worried. With the Animorphs gone, the Yeerk Empire probably win. I would have been better off staying with the empire. But, it was too late now. To try and escape would mean death.

"What do we do if the Pool Ship attacks us?" someone asked.

"We attack it back. The Blade Ship has far better weapons and maneuverability than the Pool Ship. Then we escape into Zero Space. Hopefully the Andalites will be far too busy with the remaining Yeerks to notice us,"

I walked inside. There were already quite a few human controllers and Hork-Bajir controllers inside it. The Blade Ship was nice. Very nice. I had never actually been in there before, and it was a little awe-inspiring to be inside it. But, it was slightly small for a crew of about a hundred humans and Hork-Bajir, and it was going to be a little crammed until we managed to get hold of another ship. If we managed to get hold of another. What if we just ended up roaming the galaxy aimlessly.

(Ha ha, not too confident now are you?) T.T. said, (It's a big universe out there. You may never run into another species.) I ignored him. I didn't care what my host thought.

"Okay, I want these eight people with me on the bridge," Emplish said, looking at a list he was holding, "Hergat 987, Jukinz 4835, Loped 376, Magon 2682, Karmen 630, Portus 9821, Cacnea 2583 and Ginyu 225," I had been selected to be on the bridge for two reasons. Firstly, I was a good pilot, I used to fly bug fighters a lot when I used to have a Hork-Bajir host. Secondly, my polar bear morph was one of the most powerful morphs we had, and it was a good idea to have some firepower on the bridge.

Me and the other controllers followed Emplish to the bridge. There were four human-controllers, including myself, and four Hork-Bajir controllers. The other three human controllers were Hergat, Loped and Karmen. Me and Karmen were the two pilots, and Ginyu and Portus controlled weapons. Hergat was the navigator and Cacnea and Ginyu simply stood guard. Emplish and two of his luitenents, Jukinz and Loped, simply watched and gave out orders. Every one of us could morph, even the Hork-Bajir controllers.

Through the large window at the front of the bridge we could see the Pool Ship. Suddenly, we saw something strange. A large cloud of… something was being dumped from the pool ship.

"What are those _hargrashes_ doing?" Jukinz wondered, "Is that a waste dump?"

"Hergat, zoom in on the monitors." Emplish ordered. He did, and we looked closely at the waste.

"That's… that's not a waste dump," I said in a strained voice, as I realized what had happened "They aren't dumping waste! That's the pool. The main pool. It's been flushed." Everybody gasped. Hergat ran a sensor check on the cloud.

"Sensor's showing… it's our people." he said, shocked, "Sixteen thousand… maybe seventeen thousand."

Emplish cut in harshly. "It saves us the trouble of killing them ourselves." Then, in an undertone, "But why? Why would the Visser flush… what does this mean?" What was going on? Then, suddenly, I heard it again. _Don't kill. Infest._

It kept repeating, over and over in my head. _Don't kill. Infest. Don't kill. Infest. Don't kill. Infest. DON'T KILL! INFEST!_

"The Pool ship is preparing to fire!" I heard someone, probably Ginyu, yell.

"Hard left!" Emplish yelled. A moment later, he laughed. "The visser's lost maneuvering ability. The Pool ship handles like a drunken Gedd at the best of times, and now look at it." But I wasn't paying attention. I had fallen to the floor. And it kept repeating in my head. _DON'T KILL! INFEST! DON'T KILL INFEST! DON'T KILL! INFEST! _Then, just as suddenly, it stopped. I got back up.

"His Dracon cannon is powering down." Ginyu reported, "I show his reserves at less then ten percent."

"Are they? Well, well," Emplish said, "Hail the visser. On screen. I saw the viewscreen light up. I saw Visser One's Andalite face. There was a dull look in his usually aggressive eyes, a slackness in the normally tensed body.

"You seem to be experiencing some engine trouble, Visser," Emplish gloated.

Visser One said, (The Empire will track you down and kill you, you do understand that, I hope?)

"Oh, I doubt it. I think the Empire will have it's hands full," Emplish said cheerfully, "The Andalite fleet is rather close by. It's possible I may had misled you on that point." He was all but giggling. Then, Hergat widened the view screen, and we all saw it, a lithe Bengal tiger standing near the Visser. A red tailed hawk was there too, the one they call Tobias. Emplish was stunned. He took a step back, like he has been punched. "You're not dead!" he cried.

(I noticed the same thing,) Visser One said dryly. I got worried, I didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. Emplish panicked. He grabbed control of Portus's control panel and started shooting. And suddenly, Karmen screamed.

"Animorph!" she shrieked, and we turned around to see a full grown grizzly bear emerge from Jukinz's desk.

(That's right, genius: Animorph.) it said.

It attacked.


	3. Deception

_(**Note:** Sorry about the delay in this chapter, my computer was screwing up big time)_

**Empire:**

By Cyclone49

**Chapter 3: Deception**

**Magon 2682**

The bear charged straight for Emplish, on all fours, head down, a huge bulk of muscle and fur, claws and teeth. It hit him with it's lowered head and knocked him back into the viewscreen. I quickly pulled out my Dracon beam.

Tseeew!

I hit the bear in it's right flank, burning a decent sized hole, but it didn't matter. I don't think the bear even noticed. It smashed into machinery, destroying part of the onboard computer.

"No shooting!" Emplish yelled, "You'll destroy the bridge! Morph! Morph you idiots!" In the panic I hadn't even thought of that. I focused on my battle morph, Polar Bear. White fur started sprouting out of my arms and legs, and I started to get a lot bigger. My teeth sharpened, and my hands grew into large paws. I looked over and saw some of others morphing. Cacnea and Portus were morphing into lions, Hergat into a bull, and Loped had just started morphing. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Jukinz running away. Karmen and Ginyu still had to control their stations.

Muscles started bulging from every part of my body, and long black claws emerged from my foot long paws. My nose changed into a large snout, and my jaw and face widened. The morph was finished. I was nearly ten feet tall, and weighed over fifteen hundred pounds. And then the instincts set in.

The polar bear was calm, relaxed. He was little nervous in this environment, polar bears don't generally live in spaceships, but he knew he could take every other person in this room. I looked around. Polar bear eyes were good, a little better than human eyes. The Animorph had pinned Emplish to the floor, and blood was gushing from Emplish's mouth. Two lionesses, Cacnea and Portus, were next to me, and Hergat in cape buffalo morph was behind me. Behind the Animorph was Loped halfway into Leopard morph.

Rachel! Behind!> a voice said. I realized it was coming from the Pool ship. The bear, Rachel, spun around and slashed at Loped who crumpled like a paper cup, and then crashed right into the main weapons station. Ginyu just managed to jump out of the way. Then it started again: _Don't kill. Don't kill. Don't kill. DON'T KILL! DON'T KILL!_

My head was throbbing. What was that voice? Why didn't it want me kill this Animorph. What was going on? I noticed Emplish morphing into a reptilian shape off in the distance, and Rachel looked at us.

Well?> she said. No-one moved. We all just stood, ready, anticipating the attack.

Scared?> she asked. Again, we didn't answer. But I was scared. These Animorphs had killed thousands of our people. I was terrified.

You should be,> she laughed, and she lunged. Lunged straight at me. I braced myself for the attack. She barreled right into me. It was like a train crash. She slammed me, her shoulder into the side of my head. I staggered back. And all the while that voice was in the back of my mind. _DON'T KILL! DON'T KILL! DON'T KILL!_

Then she extended her claws and drove them straight into me, right into my heart. I couldn't fight back, I couldn't even concentrate. Hergat backed up and rushed at the Animorph, his thick horns like battering ram. He slipped up on the floor, and only hit Rachel with a small amount of speed. Still, it knocked her back, and Cacnea and Portus jumped on her, scratching and biting like crazed alley cats.

I tried to get my head back together again, but I just couldn't think with that voice constantly droning in the back of my mind. _DON'T KILL!!! DON'T KILL!!! DON'T KILL!!!_ It was getting louder and louder.

Behind Rachel, I could see Emplish, almost fully morphed. He was a snake of some sort, a cobra I believe. Rachel suddenly jumped to her feet again and threw off the two lions. I demorphed, my injuries were too great.

Hergat charged into the Animorph again, hitting her in the hindquarters. Cacnea had jumped on her back, digging claws into Rachel's throat. Portus charged at her, ripping into her left haunch. Hergat kept hitting her with short, painful blows with his horns.

We were doing some damage now, the grizzly bear was slipping on the floor of the blade ship, and I started my morph again. Rachel slipped over, and landed in her own blood. This was my chance, I could kill her now.

White fur rippled over my body again, and I grew in size. In flash, I saw the now fully morphed Emplish bite her in the eyes_. DON'T KILL!! DON'T KILL!!! DON'T KILL!!!_ the voice screamed.

Die, human,> Emplish said, Just die.> Hatred oozed from his voice. I concentrated on the morph, trying to block out the voice droning in the back of my mind. Suddenly, one of Rachel's paws grabbed Emplish, impaling his snake body on her claws.

No!> Emplish cried in outrage. She brought the paw to her mouth.

Sorry,> she said vaguely.

Jake, stop her!> Emplish screamed. The Animorph bit down on him. She started to demorph, her grizzly bear fur sucked into her skin and she started getting smaller. I had completely remorphed to polar bear, I could kill her now, I could easily kill her. But I couldn't, that voice just kept going on in the back of my mind. _Don't kill. Don't kill. Don't kill._

Fully demorphed, she spit out Emplish's dead snake body. It was strange site. She was just a young, innocent looking girl, only about 15 or 16 years old. Strange to think how dangerous she was, how many people she had killed. My host had actually had a crush on her for a while. _Don't kill. Don't kill._

Please don't kill her,> T.T. begged, She's just a young girl. Please!> _Don't kill. Don't kill. Don't kill. Don't kill. Don't kill._

Quiet you fool, I'll do what I want!> I snapped. But, I couldn't kill her, that voice just kept drumming over and over again. _Don't kill! DON'T KILL!! DON'T KILL!!_

Rachel was looking at the viewscreen. I could see the Animorphs standing there, in their morphs. Except for one, he was in his human form. Strange, I didn't know who he was, we had never been given a description of that one. He was crying, looking at the screen helplessly. He knew what I was about to do. _DON'T KILL!! DON'T KILL! DON'T KILL!! DON'T KILL!!_

"I love you," she said to the screen. _DON'T KILL!! INFEST!! DON'T KILL!! INFEST!! DON'T KILL!! INFEST!!_

You fight well, human.> I said, and I swung at her with my paw. A split second before hitting, I slowed down, just enough so the blow wasn't fatal. She went flying, and smashed into the wall that the viewscreen was on. The other animorphs gasped, they boy looked devastated. I realized something: they weren't able to see Rachel. The voice started up again, even stronger. _INFEST!! INFEST!! INFEST!!!_

Ever since we had obtained the morphing cube, no one cared about infesting the Animorphs. Morph capable humans were no better than normal human hosts anymore. Or so we thought. But the voice in my head, I couldn't stop it, I ran over to Rachel's body. She was half unconscious, most of her bones were broken, and but, amazingly, she was still sub-consciously morphing back to grizzly bear. I leaned over to her, pressing my polar bear ear to her human ear.

What are you doing?> T.T. asked, a small amount of hope in his voice.

I am infesting this girl.> I replied.

Oh my god…> T.T. said ecstatically, Thank you! Thank you so much!> I started crawling out of my host's body and into Rachel's ear. I flattened myself as I entered her ear canal. But, I still had the end of my body in T.T.'s head. Using the last remaining control I had on his body, I slashed my throat with the bear claws. Blood gushed out of his throat as I entered my new host.

I secreted the numbing chemicals out of my body as I squeezed past her ear bones. Finally, I got to the brain. And how amazing it was. Flashes of memories went past, crazy stuff, unimaginable stuff. Strange aliens I had never seen before. This host had seen dinosaurs, had seen wars, had experienced more than I could imagine. But, I couldn't understand it yet, I still wasn't fully into her brain.

As I got further into her brain I was able to properly understand her memories. And it was even crazier than I had imagined. The stuff this host had done, the creatures she had met. The Ellimist, the Crayak, Drode, all the times she went back and forwards in time, all the aliens she had met. The Iskoort, the Howlers, the Nesk, the Mercora, it was crazy, insane. And all the morphs that they had, there were hundreds. And with this came revelations. That the Anti-Morphing ray had actually worked, that the alien device in Zone 41 was actually an Andalite toilet, and the fact that the Andalites were actually going to destroy the planet.

Suddenly, I could see. T.T. was desperately trying to demorph. The other controllers were watching, unsure of what to do. And I was still right under the viewscreen. The other animorphs couldn't see what had happened. It was perfect. I plan was forming in my mind, an amazing plan.

I quickly took control of Rachel's body and started completing the morph to grizzly. It felt good, she was a much faster morpher than my host, so much more experienced. But then, Rachel started to come back to consciousness, and realized what had happened.

NO NO NO!!!!!> she screamed, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!! GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD YOU PIECE OF SHIT!!!> Well, she was a lot feistier than my last host, that was for sure.

You fool, there is nothing you can do now…> I laughed, You are mine Rachel. Rachel the psycho. Rachel the killer. Rachel the pawn of Crayak.> My morph was completed. I attacked the half morphed T.T., and ripped him to shreds. I made sure to do it right in front of the viewscreen, right where the other Animorphs would see a grizzly bear jump up and attack the Polar Bear. I tore T.T. to bits. They all looked so surprised, so relieved, so happy.

Soon, they will all be mine.> I said to Rachel, Your cousin Jake the yeerk-killer, your best friend Cassie, funny old Marco, Aximilli-Egssarouth-Isthal and of course, your darling Tobias!>

NO!!> she screamed, They won't fall for it! They won't fall for your tricks you filthy fucking slug!!!>

Yes they will.> I laughed, and then in private thought speech, I talked to the other controllers, Okay, all of you in morph. Pretend to fight me and lose to me. I have a plan. Karmen. Those of you not in morph, just run away for now.> Then, in public thought speech, for all the Animorphs to hear, Yes, that's right! Rachel is here to play, you filthy Yeerks. Did you really think you could kill me?> Hergat ran at me, and I grabbed him, and slashed him with my claws.

Just demorph and repair the injuries later.> I told him in private thought, and I knocked him to the ground, and he feigned death. I did the same thing with Portus and Cacnea. Ginyu and Karmen had ran off, as I had ordered them. Then, in private thought speech, I said to Ginyu and Karmen, Hunt down that coward Jukinz and kill him!> I walked up to the computer monitor.

Rachel!> Cassie said, You're alive… I can't believe it.>

"I love you Rachel," Tobias said happily, tears flowing out of his eyes.

Rachel, I'm so sorry I sent you on that mission.> Jake said, crying as well, I'm so glad you're alive…>

Don't worry about it Jake,> I said, I'm alive, and we've beaten the Yeerks. Hold on, I'm coming right over. I'm pretty sure there are Bug Fighters on here>

Do you even know how to fly them?> Marco asked.

I can learn.> I said, a typical Rachel response. Of course, I was highly trained in the art of flying bug fighters, I'll see you guys in a minute!> I switched off the viewscreen, and ran out of the bridge and into the corridor. The others followed, and demorphed to their normal forms.

YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!!> Rachel screamed, They won't believe you!! None of them will!> But, she didn't even believe that.

I seriously doubt it,> I mocked, Marco might be a little suspicious, maybe Ax as well, but the rest are far too happy to suspect everything.> I ran through the corriders, and found Karmen and Ginyu standing around Jukinz's dead Hork-Bajir body.

Good job.> I said, Now, where is the portable pool. I need to get out a few Yeerks.>

"What are you doing? Karmen asked, "Lets just escape into zero space now. We can easily escape."

No, I have amuch better plan.> I said, We are going to infest the other Animorphs. We can easily take this planet again.>

"Why?" Karmen said, "They are just morphing humans. They are no better than my host."

No better than your host? This host knows probably knows more about the universe than the Council of Thirteen does. This host has experienced more than you could imagined. This host has seen stuff that would give you nightmares. Believe me when I tell you that you will want one of the Animorphs as a host. Now, where is the portable pool.> I said.

"Let me remind you that I happen to be the highest ranking Yeerk on this ship right now," a voice said. It was Hergat, now fully demorphed, with Portus and Cacnea standing menacingly behind him, "And what I say it that we escape into zero space, get the hell out of here, and forget about whatever idiotic plan you have."

Listen to me you stupid fool,> I said, If it wasn't for me, we would all be dead. The Animorphs had informed the Andalite fleet of our plans, and as soon as we escaped into Zero Space they would all be on us. And I am the first person the infest one of the Animorphs. So, I am in charge right now!> Of course, that was all a bluff, the Animorphs hadn't told the Andalites anything about us, Now, if we are quick, we should be able to infest the rest of the Animorphs before they inform theAndalite fleet. Now, where the bloody hell is the portable Yeerk pool.>

"Down the corrider to the left, at the third door," Hergat said.

Okay, Hergat, you are in control of the blade ship right now. Karmen, Ginyu, you two follow me. We are going to fly to the pool ship.> I ran down the corridor to the left, and went through the third door, and we got to a small Yeerk pool. It probably held about a thousand of our people.

Karmen, Ginyu, you can both take one of the Animorph hosts. Take the Andalite and the boy named Jake, they are the most valuable hosts,> I reached my hand into the pool and grabbed three random yeerks, I'm going to place these yeerks into the other three hosts. Do you understand?>

"Loud and clear." Karmen said.

"Yes, I _huthren_ understand," Ginyu said. I grabbed a jar from the table, filled it with Yeerk Pool sludge, and placed the four Yeerks inside.

Now, lets get to the Bug fighters. Quickly, we don't have much time.> We ran through the corriders, and got to the holding chamber where the fighters were. I demorphed back to human and we got in.

YOU WON"T GET AWAY WITH THIS!!!> Rachel screamed, THEY WILL SEE THROUGH YOUR STUPID PLAN!! THEY WILL KILL YOU!! THEY WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!! AND YOU WILL STARVE!!> But, she didn't believe a word she was saying. Depression had already overcame her, the realization that she had doomed her race.

I started up the Bug Fighter and flew towards the Pool ship. I made sure to swerve the fighter around a lot, to keep up the illusion of being an extremely inexperienced flier. The Docking Bay of the Pool ship opened up, and we entered and landed.

"Both of you, hide," I said. Karmen hid under the seat, and Ginyu started to morph really small. I took two Yeerks out of the jar and hid them in each of my hands. The other Animorphs were in the docking bay, along with the Hork-Bajir seer named Toby and some Hork-Bajir I assumed were free. They were all in their normal forms. As soon as I got out Tobias ran up to me and passionately kissed me.

"I love you Rachel," he said, "I'm so glad you're alive!" Cassie ran up to me and hugged me as well.

No!! Please don't do this!!!> Rachel begged, Not Tobias!! Please!> I ignored her. No Yeerk had ever got far by being sympathetic to their host. I had one arm around each of them as they hugged me. Slowly, I reached my hands up closer and closer to their ears.

No, you can't…> Rachel sobbed, Anyone but them. I'll never bother you again, just don't do it! PLEASE!!> My hands got higher and higher as I hugged them, they were almost at their ears now.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" Cassie asked. I struck! I brought my hands up to Tobias and Cassie's ears, and the two Yeerks crawled in.


End file.
